Walking: when and where
Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 12:36 pm
I first wrote this post in answering Deb's question about walking--where and when I do it...but then I started to blabber on, so I thought I would start a new thing about it in case someone is looking for ideas...it occurs to me I should put it on the Urban Rangering board, but I don't know if Madame Deb checks that one, so, well, so there.
Caveat: my experience might not be applicable to a lot of you because...
1) I am single--my time is pretty much my own. Of course I have responsibilities and committments (uh, like work, volunteering, my friends etc), but on a daily basis I am not coming home to someone else, I don't have to shuttle kids to soccer practice etc.
2) I live in a city. Not only is it interesting to walk around (people, the National Mall etc), I live within walking distance of many conveniences, such as work, the gym, the grocery store etc.
3) I don't own a car, so my motivation isn't very hard--I never have to choose between the car and the feet. I do have to choose b/w the car and the subway sometimes, but even then I have to walk to the subway and actually getting moving is half the battle anyway.
4) I generally don't set aside time to walk for exercise. It's usually for utility. I think Reinhard mentions that this is how a lot of his walking happens--if I recall he lives in a city, too (duh, Urban Rangering--blondes, I know).
That said...
I do often walk on purpose instead of getting on the subway a lot, and I definitely have started walking more and Metro-ing less, especially since my knee surgery last fall when I couldn't exercise in other ways, so I definitely use it as exercise--and I definitely purposely figured out how far away various things are from my house...but if I walk for a reason other than to get somewhere it's usually with a friend or to enjoy the weather and bop around the city to look at the people--nothing very scheduled.
So, for example:
1) I live about 2.5 miles from work and I manage to walk both ways most days (unless I'm late or it's pouring like it was several times this week). So there's 5 miles. This is my morning "coffee," it's great to get the blood pumping--though right now it is so forking hot that I wear a tank top and shorts (and a hat and SPF 30!!) and carry my work clothes, which is slightly annoying.
2) I live a little over half a mile from both my gym and the grocery store, so round trip to either of those is one mile (and with no car, frequent grocery store trips are necessary for bag-carrying purposes!).
3) The Metro (subway) has stops that are 0.5 and 1 mile away, so even walking there can be 1-2 miles (if I have a little extra time but not enough to walk the whole way I go to the farther one just to get that extra 0.5 mile).
4) The public library is about a mile away--I borrow books on CD to listen to while I walk to and from work (right now I'm listening to a really long Bebe Moore Campbell novel--love her).
5) My hairdresser is about a mile away.
I'm guessing that this type of thing wouldn't work with your geography, Deb (I only have a general idea what Long Island is like, but DC is ideal to walk around in--always people and things to look at, no stretches of suburbia to get bored) and schedule (I imagine it's hard to do this with a child to shuittle around)...but it seems like there are things one could do without too much trouble--like parking a half mile away from your destination and take the extra 10 minutes on either end?
As for setting aside a time to exercise generally, personally I MUCH prefer doing it first thing in the morning. I am a morning person, so that's one thing, but also for me it just sets the tone for the whole day--I look better, feel better, etc for the rest of the day. Also, I am much more likely to decide I don't feel like working out (or running out of time!) if I wait until the end. I wake up before 6 on weekdays, and on Saturdays I am running by 7 so that I can make it to teach swimming lessons by 9.
Caveat: my experience might not be applicable to a lot of you because...
1) I am single--my time is pretty much my own. Of course I have responsibilities and committments (uh, like work, volunteering, my friends etc), but on a daily basis I am not coming home to someone else, I don't have to shuttle kids to soccer practice etc.
2) I live in a city. Not only is it interesting to walk around (people, the National Mall etc), I live within walking distance of many conveniences, such as work, the gym, the grocery store etc.
3) I don't own a car, so my motivation isn't very hard--I never have to choose between the car and the feet. I do have to choose b/w the car and the subway sometimes, but even then I have to walk to the subway and actually getting moving is half the battle anyway.
4) I generally don't set aside time to walk for exercise. It's usually for utility. I think Reinhard mentions that this is how a lot of his walking happens--if I recall he lives in a city, too (duh, Urban Rangering--blondes, I know).
That said...
I do often walk on purpose instead of getting on the subway a lot, and I definitely have started walking more and Metro-ing less, especially since my knee surgery last fall when I couldn't exercise in other ways, so I definitely use it as exercise--and I definitely purposely figured out how far away various things are from my house...but if I walk for a reason other than to get somewhere it's usually with a friend or to enjoy the weather and bop around the city to look at the people--nothing very scheduled.
So, for example:
1) I live about 2.5 miles from work and I manage to walk both ways most days (unless I'm late or it's pouring like it was several times this week). So there's 5 miles. This is my morning "coffee," it's great to get the blood pumping--though right now it is so forking hot that I wear a tank top and shorts (and a hat and SPF 30!!) and carry my work clothes, which is slightly annoying.
2) I live a little over half a mile from both my gym and the grocery store, so round trip to either of those is one mile (and with no car, frequent grocery store trips are necessary for bag-carrying purposes!).
3) The Metro (subway) has stops that are 0.5 and 1 mile away, so even walking there can be 1-2 miles (if I have a little extra time but not enough to walk the whole way I go to the farther one just to get that extra 0.5 mile).
4) The public library is about a mile away--I borrow books on CD to listen to while I walk to and from work (right now I'm listening to a really long Bebe Moore Campbell novel--love her).
5) My hairdresser is about a mile away.
I'm guessing that this type of thing wouldn't work with your geography, Deb (I only have a general idea what Long Island is like, but DC is ideal to walk around in--always people and things to look at, no stretches of suburbia to get bored) and schedule (I imagine it's hard to do this with a child to shuittle around)...but it seems like there are things one could do without too much trouble--like parking a half mile away from your destination and take the extra 10 minutes on either end?
As for setting aside a time to exercise generally, personally I MUCH prefer doing it first thing in the morning. I am a morning person, so that's one thing, but also for me it just sets the tone for the whole day--I look better, feel better, etc for the rest of the day. Also, I am much more likely to decide I don't feel like working out (or running out of time!) if I wait until the end. I wake up before 6 on weekdays, and on Saturdays I am running by 7 so that I can make it to teach swimming lessons by 9.